


You can't outgrow some things.

by Darth_Rel



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Protective!Bucky., sick!Clint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 10:23:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6419974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darth_Rel/pseuds/Darth_Rel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Winter Solider or not, Bucky's never grown out of his mother hen instincts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

The transition from Winter Solider, world's deadliest assistant trained by the Red Room, back to Sergeant James Barnes is a rough one. No one is more aware of this than the man himself. Bucky finds himself struggling to adjust from a life that consisted of hiding after the events of DC and hunting down the smoldering pieces left of Hydra to being babied by none other than Captain America himself. Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman? A scorned woman had nothing on a man twisted into a weapon and sent to kill his own best friend. But that was another story.

As it currently was Bucky was safely tucked away, in the Avengers tower of all things. Tony Stark naturally did not approve but there was only so much protesting you could do in the face of the walking example of all of America's finer qualities, Captain America himself. Eventually Tony went from spaztastically outraged to mild grumbling. Not that Bucky left Steve's floor of the tower that often. Everything.. hurt. He was still tense and wary, prepared to vanish like a passing shadow should he need too. Memories kept clashing as he slowly remembered his time as the Winter Solider and everything before that. Nightmares were a common occurrence, sleep wasn't. Having Steve right by his side was both a help and a disadvantage.

He was able to use Steve as an excuse to not meet the others that called the tower home. Not that all of them were ever in the tower at once. Tony worked manic hours between running Stark Industries , making all sorts of inventive toys for the Avengers and bouncing between New York and Malibu. When Bruce wasn't working in the lab he was just as elusive as Bucky happened to be at the present moment. Clint and Tasha were rarely in the tower either, running missions for Fury no doubt. Bucky was firmly of the 'don't ask questions if you don't want answers' mind of thinking. Thor? He was off doing whatever Demi gods did. And hearing about Thor was certainly a mind boggling thing for him.

Three months into his stay at the tower and the first tendrils of cabin fever had set in. He wasn't a danger to anyone, not really. Steve seemed poised to take Buck down should he show any signs of reverting back to the Winter Solider but besides some intense nightmares and brief moments of half awake Russian ramblings there was nothing to worry about. Rodgers had stepped out of the tower while Bucky was sleeping. Bucky realized that minutes after he woke up to sky heavy with grey clouds. According to Jarvis, and wasn't it trippy there was a voice that had no body to talk too, it was suppose to rain miserably for the rest of the day. Bucky gave a deep sigh and gazed out of the ceiling to floor windows, clutching his cup of coffee like it was some sort of life line.

 

He didn't want to stay on Steve's floor by himself. The thought hit him as he stood there, watching sheets of rain pound the ground. If Steve trusted him to be alone without him it certainly couldn't hurt to wander the communal areas of the tower right? Bucky considered that thought as he chewed on his bottom lip and used one hand to brush chin length hair out of his eyes. Why not. Bucky discarded the rest of his coffee into the sink, it had gotten cold during his musing anyway, and got dressed before heading out. He felt like a teenager, escaping while being grounded. Nothing happened between leaving Steve's floor to the elevator to him stepping in though the 'Avenger's' floor of the tower. He breathed a sigh of relief.

It was silent. No one must be around. Bucky considered that before silently making his way though the floor. He peeked and poked at things before finding a large tv in one room. He glanced around like he expected an Avenger to spring out of nowhere and yell GOTCHA and chase him back to Steve's floor. After that thought circled in his head Bucky gave a groan and rubbed his face. He was getting stupid now. He poked at the tv and ten minutes later, because clearly he was awesome and it only took minutes for him to figure out how things worked, he was playing some kind of video game with aliens and a guy named Master Chief. Which was a ridiculous name if you asked him.

He was doing that, and doing fairly well when he heard a noise, the elevator arriving. Instantly he tensed up and images of trying to sneak into the house after dark only to get caught by Mama Barnes danced though his mind. He was frozen as he heard the faintest noise of slow foot steps. If he wasn't as good as he was he would have missed it. Whoever it was had an almost soundless walk. Or they did till a loud sneeze broke the air.

Whatever guilty panicked feelings he may have been wrestling with vanished in a instant. All he could think of was pre serum Steve, catching colds at the slightly cold breeze and being stuck in bed for weeks on end with only Bucky to take care of him. He rose to his feet and moved, much more silently then the sneezer did, The video game was forgotten in the same moment and he rounded the corner to come face to face with the Amazing Hawkeye himself. Apparently a little to silently because not even a split second later there was a bow in the man's hands and he was face to face with an arrow about to get launched into an eye socket. He held up hands and took a step back. "Wait.. I'm not here to hurt you I.." As he was speaking Clint looked distracted and even as he was moving the bow to the side he let out another explosive sneeze. It shook the archer's body hard enough he let the arrow off and with a 'twatck!' it landed in what Bucky was assuming a priceless painting.

"Aww.. body no."

Bucky arched an eyebrow then glanced between the painting and the sopping wet archer who was swiping at his running noise with the back of one arm.


	2. Chapter Two

It didn't take long for Bucky to take advantage of Clint being distracted by his sneeze. He plucked the bow from only semi resisting hands with ease and carefully gripped it with the metal hand. Wouldn't endear him to the archer if he managed to crush the bow after all. A moment later Clint had a gun in his hands and was narrowing his eyes at Bucky. "How did you get into the tower?" That actually surprised Bucky and he stood there, dumbfounded for a moment as he gazed intently into hard blue green eyes. Did Steve not actually tell anyone he was here? He could picture Steve not wanting to tell anyone to keep the peace with the team but for god's sake Stark knew and he didn't seem like the type to keep anything to himself. Even when he really should consider keeping things to himself. A repetitive complain of Rodger's actually. 

 

"I.. live here." That caused the gun to lower just a hair, barely noticeable by anyone but the man that had been the Winter Solider for near on seventy years. It was slightly encouraging though. "Steve didn't say?" That would explain why no Avengers were banging Steve's door down every day at least. The gun lowered even more which made Buck breath a little easier than he had been a moment ago before he got a scowl. And another body rocking sneeze from the drenched archer in front of him. Deciding enough was enough he easily slipped the bow though his shoulder onto his back and grabbed the wrist that wasn't occupied by a gun and dragged Clint towards the living room where he was just playing Halo. 

 

"Woah! What do you think you... " Clint couldn't even keep from sneezing long enough to argue against the mother hen treatment he was now currently getting from the ex stone cold Winter Solider.

 

"Shudd up." Even Bucky could hear the Brooklyn accent and it was only by a hair that he avoided flinching at the sound. Now wasn't the time. He had to take care of a clearly sick birdie. Within moments, possibly even to fast for Barton to track, the archer was relieved of his gun and shoes, shoved onto a couch and tightly wrapped up in a blanket. Bucky couldn't get two shits about the fact that Clint was still muddy and that water was dripping from his cuffs and various other places. Bucky could see a startled and confused pair of blue green eyes gazing at him, till the next sneeze shook the archer so bad he just looked confused when it was over.

 

"Where do you guys keep the tea? What about soup? Are you allergic to anything?" Bucky rattled out a list of questions without pausing for breath. Clint could only sit on the couch , getting more wide eyed by the moment before Bucky tossed his hands up and stormed towards the communal kitchen muttering under his breath about finding things his damn self. Hopefully stoves and tea pots hadn't really changed since the 1940's. He could only image what kind of picture he was forming for Barton. The Winter Solider, deadly killer and assassin not only living in the same tower as he was but now playing nurse maid to him because he simply wouldn't stop sneezing. For Bucky this was all quite normal though so it only took a moment to dig though things and unknowingly come across Banner's stash of tea. Two minutes later and he was sitting next to Clint, forcing a cup of tea into his hands and a thermometer into the corner of his mouth. He wasn't sure why he had found it on the kitchen's island but looking gift horses in the mouth wasn't one of his things, either now or back when he was growing up.

 

Clint was now staring at him in a weird mixture of horror and amusement. Thankfully he didn't spit the thermometer out of his mouth though that thought certainly had to be swimming though the archer's weary mind now. Bucky could deal with looks if that was the case. "Just.. shut up. What are you doing out in that weather anyhow? Without a heavier jacket? You're going catch your death or something. Doesn't SHIELD train it's people any better these days. Swear to god you're just as Steve was back in the day. Like this one time Steve.." 

 

Bucky just started rattling on as he waited for the beep that would tell him that he could read Barton's temp not even realize he was rattling on even though Clint's expression edged away from horror into straight out amusement. He was having a hard time keeping the thermometer from wiggling in his mouth as he suppressed any laughter he had. It didn't even occur to him that he had done a typically 'Barnes' thing and told Clint to shut up before then proceeding to ask a series of questions.


	3. Chapter Three

When Steven and Tony strolled into the tower not even half an hour later Bucky still had Clint confined to the couch but had grudgingly agreed to let him challenge Bucky to Halo after he managed to keep down most of a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Buck wasn't sure who did the shopping for the team exactly but he wanted to tell them that condensed cans of soup weren't healthy and that they needed a better selection. Something to worry about much later.

 

Clint, in his amusement, had agreed to do whatever Bucky told him to after he got over the shock of Barnes apparently trying to take care of him. That 'care' came in the form of two cups of hot tea, a bowl of pretty decently prepared chicken noodle soup and being cocooned in as many blankets as Bucky could find within eye sight of Barton and the couch. Clint couldn't remember the last time that someone showed him that much care and it was just a stupid little chill he had gotten while doing a routine case for SHIELD. It was.. dare he say it, nice. No one had bothered to make sure he was taken care of outside of Coulson and Natasha. It made him oddly warm inside. 

 

The fact that it was the Winter Solider that was apparently taking care of him was just utterly mind blowing. In fact shortly after being wrapped up on the couch and having a cup of tea shoved into his hand his brain went offline. To be fair it had something to do with sitting in a crouched position on a uncovered roof top for hours on end. No one human came out of that without a couple sniffles at best. But they had needed his eyes and he wasn't one to say no. So long as Barnes didn't flip out and try and kill him he was completely fine with the treatment. Tony was going to have kittens when he saw the couch. Barnes didn't know where replacement clothing was and refused to let Clint walk anywhere under his own steam. He also refused to let Clint out of his sight. 

 

Clint naturally read stories about Steven and his best buddy growing up so he knew that Steve could get sick at the drop of a hat before Project Rebirth so he was willing to assume that whatever it was that Barnes was doing was left over from those days. Better to have an overprotect assassin then well, death. And he was surprisingly good at Halo. He wondered how long Bucky had been sitting on the couch playing before Clint had wandered in after his miserable mission.

 

Clint's thoughts were brought back to present day when he heard Tony and Steve, arguing about something or another yet again, come into the room. Several things happened at once.

 

Steve stared at Bucky and Clint on the couch, his jaw dropping comically as he stared at the two. Naturally whatever argument he was having with Tony vanished from his mind.  
Tony however took a few more seconds to notice the two. It took Steven not replying back for him to stop actually talking. Once he spotted Clint in muddy clothing, wrapped up in a blanket with empty dishes on one side and the Winter Solider on other side his mind caught up and then his mouth caught up.

 

"OH MY GOD. WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY COUCH! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I'VE REPLACED THAT COUCH THANKS TO THOR??"

Naturally Tony would remark on the couch first and not the fact that Hawkeye and Winter Solider, respectively, were hanging out casually in the living room. Clint shrugged and sniffed before aiming a kill shot at Bucky's avatar on screen. "By now you should have everything insured Shell-head." His voice sounded strange due to being stuffed up but the smugness was there none the less.

 

".. you shot me? What the hell?"

 

The smugness went up to a level ten when Barnes noticed what he had just done. He could sense a glare being sent his way before Bucky glanced back in Stark's direction and winced when he saw Steve just staring at him. ".. oh hey Steve. I bet you were wondering what I was doing here huh?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done! Hopefully people enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little plot bunny that popped into my head. Special thanks to Crimsonsparrow for reviewing.


End file.
